©2005 Algirdas Pakštas 06.04.2005 Internet Governance and Regulation 1 Role of the IEEE Communications Society in the Internet Governance and Regulation.

©2005 Algirdas Pakštas06.04.2005 Internet Governance and

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Role of the Role of the IEEE Communications Society IEEE Communications Society in the Internet Governance and in the Internet Governance and

RegulationRegulation(Provocative Opinion)(Provocative Opinion)

Baltic IT&T 2005 ForumBaltic IT&T 2005 ForumRoundtable DiscussionRoundtable Discussion

“Internet Governance and Regulation”“Internet Governance and Regulation”Wednesday, April 6, 2005, 11:30-13:00Wednesday, April 6, 2005, 11:30-13:00

Radisson SAS Daugava Hotel, Riga, LatviaRadisson SAS Daugava Hotel, Riga, Latvia

Prof.DrTech. Algirdas PakštasLondon Metropolitan University

Dept. of Computing, Communications Technology and Mathematics

[email protected]


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OUTLINEOUTLINE My Expertise: Brief CV My Expertise: What I’m teaching

Recommended Books Internet Governance (or not?) IEEE Communications Society

Relevant groups within ComSoc Standardization activities Technical Committees

TC Network Operation Management Other Societies

Internet Society ACM


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Brief BioBrief Bio• M.Sc. in Radiophysics and Electronics (1980), Irkutsk

State University

• Ph.D. in Systems Programming (1987), the Institute of Control Sciences

• Currently: London Metropolitan University, Department of Computing, Communications Technology and Mathematics– Research: Communications Software Engineering

– Teaching: “Network Planning and Management”

• Active in the IEEE Communications Society:– Technical Committees:

• TC on Communications Software (Chair)• TC on Multimedia Communications (past vice Chair)• TC on Enterprise Networking (past vice Chair)


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Brief BioBrief Bio

• Published 3 research monographs and more than 140 other publications

• Senior member of the IEEE

• Member of the ACM

• Member of the New York Academy of Sciences

• Member of the Editorial Boards of the ‘IEEE Communications Magazine”, “Cybernetics and Systems Analysis”, “Journal of Information and Organizational Sciences” and “CompSIS”.


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What I’m teaching:What I’m teaching:

• Network Planning and Management


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Recommended BooksRecommended Books

“Wide Area Network Design: Concepts and Tools for Optimization”

By Robert S. Cahn

San Francisco, Morgan Kaufman Publishers, 1998

ISBN: 1-55860-458-8


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Recommended BooksRecommended Books“Network Analysis,

Architecture and Design” (Second Edition)

by James D. McCabe

San Francisco,

Morgan Kaufmann, Hardcover, 2003, 501

pages,

ISBN 1-55860-887-7


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Internet Architecture and Internet Architecture and Operation:Operation:'Supra-National' Rather 'Supra-National' Rather ThanThan'International' 'International' GovernanceGovernance

1. Origins

2. Architecture

3. The Internet Protocol Suite

4. Governance


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Internet Governance:Internet Governance:The ThesisThe Thesis

• Most lawyers, economists and policy-makers who pontificate on Internet governance lack an adequate understanding of:– the Internet’s architecture and engineering

– Internet mechanisms

– institutions involved in Internet governance

– the governance of those institutions

– processes involved in Internet governance

• The concept 'international' is very awkward in the context of the Internet


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Motivations Underlying Motivations Underlying The InternetThe Internet

• Uni / Research Lab project c. 1969-1990,to connect multiple remote computers

• Funded by U.S. (Defense) Advanced Research Projects Agency - (D)ARPA

• During the Cold War era, military strategists were concerned about the devastating impact of neutron bomb explosions on electronic componentry

• Hence robustness and resilience (or, to use terms of that period, 'survivability' and 'fail-soft') were uppermost in designers' minds


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Motivations for Motivations for UseUse of the of the InternetInternet• “By the second year of operation, however [c.

1972], an odd fact became clear.

• “ARPANET's users had warped the computer-sharing network into a dedicated, high-speed, federally subsidized electronic post- office.

• “The main traffic on ARPANET was not long-distance computing. Instead, it was news and personal messages. [Later, add information access]

• “Researchers were using ARPANET to collaborate on projects, to trade notes on work, and eventually, to downright gossip and schmooze”


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The Seeds of The Seeds of PopularisationPopularisation

“As the '70s and '80s advanced, ... and since:

– software [that implemented] TCP/IP was public-domain, and

– the basic technology was decentralized and rather anarchic [i.e. not centrally coordinated] ...

it was difficult to stop people from barging in and linking up somewhere-or-other”


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The Seeds of The Seeds of CommercialisationCommercialisation

• ARPANet had an ‘acceptable use policy’ that precluded use for commercial purposes

• In 1993 that was eased, and then abandoned

• The result was the user-pays environment that underlies the structure, process and politics of the Internet from 1995 onwards


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Issues Arising From Issues Arising From Internet HistoryInternet History

• It just happened, and it continues to happen

• There was no ‘grand plan’

• The main thing that’s predictable about change on the Internet is its unpredictability

• The Internet is too complex an undertaking for any ‘grand plan’ to be imposed on it now

• But that won’t stop the powerful from trying, including governments and major corporations

• Tension between central-planners and freedom-lovers is inherent, and control will ebb and flow


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The The InternetInternet

Router

InternetAccessProvider

THE INTERNET

Corporate Workstations

InternetServicesProvider

LocalAreaNetwork

(LAN)

Personal Work-and-Play

Stations

Firewall

Webserver


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Internet & ArchitectureInternet & Architecture• Internet: “A collection of inter-connected computer

networks”

• Internet Architecture: “The elements, and relationships among them, and means for creating and maintaining them”

– Nodes (workstations, hosts, intermediating computers and routers)

– Communications Links between the nodes

– Protocols defining the rules of engagement between nodes

– Software, hosted by the computers (client and server), , and implementing the protocols

– Human Processes to create and amend protocols

– Governance Mechanisms, to control the processes


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Some Awkward Facts Some Awkward Facts About the InternetAbout the Internet

• Its operation is collaborative and multi-organisational (there is little ‘authority’)

• It is supra-national (i.e. no government has control)

• Messages are ‘packetised’ (i.e. sent in pieces)

• It is multi-path, with paths computed in real time

• Its architecture and mechanism are defined by ‘protocols’, which are negotiated supra-nationally

• Changes are subject to slow, distributed negotiation

• There is no register or directory of Internet users

• The register of machine-identities is incomplete


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The Internet Protocol The Internet Protocol SuiteSuite

• Protocol: “A set of rules that governs the process of communication between two entities”

• TCP/IP:– The set of protocols which together define

the Internet, and its architecture and process

– In excess of 100 protocols

– Commonly referred to by the names of two, central protocols, TCP and IP, hence ‘TCP/IP’

– Organised in a ‘stack’ of ‘layers’


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Issues Arising re the Issues Arising re the Internet Protocol SuiteInternet Protocol Suite

• Who owns it?

• What motivates organisations to use it?

• What process is used to adapt and enhance it?

• Whose interests does it embody?Whose interests does it harm?Whose interests does it ignore?

• Can it be hijacked by some players to the detriment of other players?


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Key Key PlayerPlayerss

Transmit and Receive SignalsCSMA/CD, token ring, ADSL

Transmit and Receive PacketsEthernet, PPP

Transmit and Receive DatagramsIP, ICMP, DHCP

Reliably Transmit and Receive SegmentsTCP, UDP

Transmit and Receive MessagesHTTP, SMTP, POP, FTP

Physical Medium

Physical Layer

Link Layer

Network Layer (IP)

Transport Layer (TCP)

Application Layer W3C, IETF

IETF

IETF, IEEE, ITU

IEEE, ITU, ETSI

IETF

IEEE, IETF

IP-Addresses: (ICANN), ARIN/RIPE/APNIC Domain-Names: ICANN, Registrars

Parameters: (ICANN), IANA, IETF

Architecture: ISOC, IAB, IETF, (ICANN)


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The Real Powers in The Real Powers in Engineering StandardsEngineering Standards

• Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), especially re the middle and lower layers

• Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), especially re the upper and middle layers

• International Telecommunications Union (ITU), primarily re the lower layers; but also European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)

• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), for all aspects of WWW matters (mainly upper layers)


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IEEE GovernanceIEEE Governance

• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

• Since 1884/1963, a professional association of more than 377,000 individual members in 150 countries – http://www.ieee.org/organizations/

• 900 active standards plus 700 more coming

• Governed by a Board and Executive Committee with delegates representing the 10 IEEE Regions and 10 technical divisions (of the 37 Societies)


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IEEE Communications IEEE Communications SocietySociety

• Non-governmental, individual member’s organization

– Currently about 45,000 members worldwide

• Has no obligations to “advise” any government on Communications Technology– Anecdote about “advising communist party”


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IEEE Communications IEEE Communications SocietySociety

• Groups:– Board of Governors (elected) www.comsoc.org

– Office (New York City – small staff)

– Technical Committees (about 20) – volunteersTC Network Operation Management

– Conferences (a lot)

– Publications (a lot)

– Standardization activities


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Other SocietiesOther Societies

Internet Society (ISOC) ISOC is a DC Non-Profit Corporation, with an

international Board of Trustees, formed in 1992http://www.isoc.org/isoc/general/trustees/incorp.shtml

Relatively small (some 4000 members worldwide) Annual INET Conference Naturally interested in the Internet Governance

(special sessions in the INET conferences)

ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Also interested in Internet Governance issues


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Internet Assigned Numbers Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)Authority (IANA)

IANA is still the real information provider for:– Country-Code Top-Level Domains

(ccTLDs)

– Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

– ‘General Assigned Numbers’, of which there are scores, e.g. ‘well-known Port Numbers’


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IANA GovernanceIANA Governance• IANA has been since 1988 “[the organisation that]

assigned values from several series of numbers used in network protocol implementations”www.iana.org, http://www.wia.org/pub/iana.html

• In 1997, IANA was stated not to be "a separate entity," but rather "a task performed by Dr. Postel under contract between USC and an agency of the [U.S.] federal government"

• Jon Postel died in 1998, and in legal terms, IANA is an unincorporated association

• It is chartered by ISOC


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IETF Standards Development IETF Standards Development ProcessesProcesses

• Done in the Working Groups

• 136 IETF WGs alone, as at 22 October 2002

• In principle, IETF WGs are open to contributors,but are engineer-driven and highly esoteric

• In practice, IETF WGs are:– dominated by Driven Individuals employed and

travel-funded by large corporations– not tightly controlled by corporations (because the

Driven Individuals act as professionals rather than employees)

– but social interests are rarely represented


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IETF’s RFC (Request For Comments) IETF’s RFC (Request For Comments) DocumentsDocumentsThis is a generic term that covers multiple categorieshttp://www.rfc-editor.org/rfcxx00.html, as at 22 Oct 2002:

– technical specifications, including:• formally adopted Standards (STD – 60)• de facto standards (many vital RFCs – 70)• experimental proposals (160)• historical (formally obsoleted) (70)• obsolescent and obsolete (c. 2,500)

– Best Current Practices descriptions (BCP – 66)

– Informational Documents (FYI – 38)

An RFC must first be an Internet Draft (I-D – 1,750)


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IETF GovernanceIETF Governance• IETF has been since 1986 “a large open

international community of network designers, operators, vendors, and researchers” – http://www.ietf.org/overview.html

• Its governance is loose

• In legal terms, it is an unincorporated association

• It recognises its reporting line as via IESG to IAB

• IAB/IESG (1979/84) is chartered by ISOChttp://www.isoc.org/isoc/related/ietf/


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ITU GovernanceITU Governance• The International Telecommunications Union,

“headquartered in Geneva, ... an international organization within the United Nations System where governments and the private sector coordinate global telecom networks and services” – http://www.itu.ch

• Comprises [U.N.] States, but with participation from PTTs, telcos and technology suppliershttp://www.itu.int/publications/cchtm/cns.html


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W3C GovernanceW3C Governance• An Industry Association (or

Consortium), based on principles of Vendor Neutrality, Coordination and Consensus – http://www.w3c.org/Consortium/

• Governed by a Member Contract and the W3C Process Document, which describes the W3C Organization, W3C Activities and Groups, how consensus governs W3C work, the W3C Recommendation Track, and the W3C Submission Process

• Permits Invited Experts to participate in WGs


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Internet Corporation for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)(ICANN)

A Californian nonprofit public benefit corporation "formed to assume responsibility for:

– the IP address space allocation

– protocol parameter assignment

– domain name system management, and

– root server system management functions

previously performed under U.S. Government contract by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and other entities”

ICANN’s Web-Site


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ICANN – 1st of 3 FunctionsICANN – 1st of 3 FunctionsDomain Name Supporting Domain Name Supporting OrganizationOrganization

• Advises the ICANN Board re DNS policy issues

• This involves the registration of:– gTLDs (such as .com and .org)

– ccTLDs (such as .hk, .au and .us)

• This is a complex moving target, in transition, involving a great deal of politics, handled badly

• Every sub-domain has a Registrar,but policies and practices vary enormously

• In this arena, ICANN has considerable authority


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Alternatives to the DNSAlternatives to the DNS• An application-specific name-based

directory of participating nodes, designed to cater for high volatility of name-to-IP-Address mapping (ICQ since 1996, also Groove, Napster, NetMeeting)

• An application-specific directory of IP-addresses, without names, dynamically managed in real-time (Gnutella, Freenet)

• Authentication of names, and use of whatever IP-Address is advised each time they register (SETI@Home, PopularPower)

• A flexible, real-time DNS (DDNS??)


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ICANN – 2nd of 3 Functions ICANN – 2nd of 3 Functions Address Supporting Address Supporting OrganizationOrganization

• Advises the ICANN Board re IP-Address policy

• There are three Regional Internet Registries:– ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers), for

the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa

– RIPE NCC (Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre), for Europe, The Middle East, The North of Africa, and Parts of Asia

– APNIC (Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre)

• These organisations long pre-date ICANN, and it is not clear how influential ICANN is in this arena


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ICANN – 3rd of 3 Functions ICANN – 3rd of 3 Functions Protocol Supporting Protocol Supporting OrganizationOrganization

• Advises the ICANN Board re:– assignment of Parameters for Internet protocols

– Technical Standards that enable computers to exchange information and manage communications over the Internet

• The organisations that actually do this (i.e. IANA, IETF, IEEE, ITU) long pre-date ICANN, and it is not clear how influential ICANN is in this arena


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Inadequacies of ICANNInadequacies of ICANN• At best, it “lacks representativeness,

openness, and accountability to the public”

• At worst, a case study in the abuse of power, used as a means for the US Government to exercise even more power over the Internet than it legally has available to it

• Unlikely to survive in its present form, and seriously detrimental to progress if it does

• Internet Architecture Board (IAB), home of IETF, is likely to be more effective and acceptable


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ConclusionsConclusions• The Internet is complex

• Any simple prescription is wrong

• Almost any complex prescription is wrong

• Not ‘International’ but ‘Universalist’

• Best conceived in terms of:– Self-organising systems / Biology / Ecology

– Supra-nationality

• ‘Don’t regulate what you don’t understand’


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ReferencesReferences

• R. Clarke, “Internet Architecture and Operation:‘Supra-National' Rather Than International' Governance”, http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/ ...... IGCLPC02 {.html, .ppt}